Programmes and Modules

This programme examines four areas: the core political history of the Muslims as exemplified in their khalifas from the Khulafa ar-Rashidun right down to the last of the Osmanlis; the intellectual history of the Muslims as shown by the madhhabs of Islam, both those of fiqh and 'aqida, as well as heterodox movements, particularly those that have contributed substantially to the modern age; and a study of the societal forms of the first community of Islam in Madina. Lastly, there are the regular MFAS Residentials' modules studying the classical sciences of Islam. In total the General Muslim Studies programme comprises five modules:

This programme examines the dominant global society, arguing, in our first module, that it has emerged from out of the French Revolution. The analysis is undertaken in five parts: first, the history of power including the emergence of banking and ‘market forces’; second, the picture of technique, technology, method and science and how they have arisen, and how they relate to power, including examination of some of the more exciting recent developments; third, an examination of the structure of its personal, familiar and societal forms and institutions as seen through the eyes of its writers and artists; fourth, an investigation of economics drawing on a number of disciplines including philosophy and psychology as well as on absolutely traditional perspectives from the Sunna and Shari‘a; fifth, we look at the means by which a society sustains itself through time by means of education, pedagogy and tarbiya, with a view to looking practically at our genuine needs today. The programme comprises five modules: